Card register

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a register for cards, sheets, memorandums, etc., that has a housing with a box-shaped bottom member whose upper housing cover plate is provided with a dishshaped hollow for receiving a stack of loose sheets or cards provided with markings and having edge cut-outs in the manner of a register, and a cover which is pivotal about a horizontal axis, covers the dish-shaped hollow with the cards and is in operative connection with two-armed levers engaging the cards and depressable by vertical key pressure and having formed thereon at the ends opposite the keys engagement members cooperating with card pivot levers in such a manner that by actuating one of the selection keys the selected card with the card stack thereabove is movable from the stack together with the cover into a substantially vertical position. The cover may be moved into its position closing the dish-shaped hollow by actuating a closure key, the cards of the card stack being held in the region of the cover pivot axis in lateral guides.

United States Patent [191 Ippen 1 1 CARD REGISTER [75] Inventor: Heiko lppen, Dusseldorf, Germany [73] Assignee: Arlac-Werk Heiko Ippen, Hamburg,

Germany 22 Filed: Aug. 1, 1973 211 Appl. No.: 384,615

[ 1 Aug. 5, 1975 Primary Examiner-Robert W. Michell Assistant E \'aminer.l. Wolff Attorney, Agent. or Firm-Toren, McGeady and Stanger 5 7 ABSTRACT The invention relates to a register for cards, sheets, memorandums, etc., that has a housing with a boxshaped bottom member whose upper housing cover plate is provided with a dish-shaped hollow for receiving a stack of loose sheets or cards provided with markings and having edge cut-outs in the manner of a register, and a cover which is pivotal about a horizontal axis, covers the dish-shaped hollow with the cards and is in operative connection with two-armed levers engaging the cards and depressable by vertical key pressure and having formed thereon at the ends opposite the keys engagement members cooperating with card pivot levers in such a manner that by actuating one of the selection keys the selected card with the card stack thereabove is movable from the stack together with the cover into a substantially vertical position. The cover may be moved into its position closing the dish-shaped hollow by actuating a closure key, the cards of the card stack being held in the region of the cover pivot axis in lateral guides.

1 Claim, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTEU AUG 5:975

SHEET PATENTEU Auc 5|975 SHEET Fig. 2

PATENTED AUG 5 l975 Fig. 4

CARD REGISTER SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the invention is to design such a card register so that it is more reliable in operation and more economical to produce.

To solve this problem a card register of the type described at the beginning is proposed which according to the invention is constructed in such a manner that the free ends opposite the key bodies of the two-arm actuating levers comprise at the side facing the card pivot levers tongue-shaped angled end portions as braking and holding means which are inclined upwardly at about 45 and which merge in each case into a guide portion rising towards the key bodies and cooperate with the card pivot levers which consist of substantially rectangular pivot bodies which are eccentrically mounted on the pivot shaft carrying the cover and which adjacent one of their corner regions are mounted pivotally on the cover pivot shaft and in the closed state of the cover are disposed with arcuate guide faces on the tongue-shaped end portions and the arcuate and rising guide portions of the twoarm actuating levers and when the lever ends opposite the pivot bodies are raised roll on the rising guide portion with simultaneous lifting of the cover and the selected card stack in such a manner that the reduction ratio produced at the start of the opening of the cover by the lever combination formed by the card pivot levers and the end portions of the actuating levers changes into a step-up ratio and at the end of the opening operation a braking wedging action is obtainable by means of the end portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING;

The subject of the invention is illustrated by way of example in the drawings, wherein FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a card register with raised cover,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the register with the top housing portion removed,

FIG. 3 is a side view of an actuating key of the register, said key being constructed as two-armed lever,

FIG. 4 is a side view of the cover with lateral guides for the register cards and pivot shaft holding the cover,

FIG. 5 is a view from the inside of the cover of the latter with the register cards, the cover pivot shaft and pivot members mounted pivotally on the latter,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a pivot member,

FIG. 7 is a view of the carg register housing from above with the cover raised and the upper housing cover plate removed,

FIG 8 illustrate the mode of operation of an actuating key and 9 cooperating with a pivot member, firstly with the cover closed and secondly with the cover open, in each case in lateral elevation, and

FIGS. 10a show from above the register card portions having and 10b selection punched portions formed in the edge regions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The register consists according to FIGS. 1 and 2 of a housing 10 comprising a box-shaped bottom member 11 whose bottom plate is denoted by 12 (FIG. 8 or 9). The rectangular or box-shaped bottom member 11 is provided with an upper cover plate 14 which merges into a front portion 140 inclined in the manner of a desk. Formed in the housing cover plate 14 is a dishshaped hollow 13 which serves to receive a card stack 100.

The stack consists of a number of rectangular sheets or cards provided with markings. In the present embodiment thirteen cards are provided which are denoted in FIG. 10 by 101,102,103,l04,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,- I I3. The individual cards are provided at the front and back with lines for entering names, addresses and telephone numbers. Also printed on the cards are the letter of the alphabet, this being done in such a manner that the card 101 carries the letter A on its side facing the next card 102 and the following cards 103 to 113 each carry two letters, one on the front and one on the backv Furthermore, the cards 101 to 113 comprise at their longitudinal edges facing the rear of the housing 10 selection punchings 122,123,124,l25,126.127,128, 129,l20,l2l ,l32,l33 which will be explained in detail hereinafter. Slot-shaped recesses 140,141 serving to hold and guide the cards in the register housing 10 (FIG. 5) are provided at the narrow sides adjacent the longitudinal edges of the cards substantially at the level of the selection cut-outs 122 to 133.

The dish-shaped hollow 13 may be closed by means ofa cover 15 which is preferably made box-shaped and has a surrounding edge whose height is equal to that of the total card stack 100 (FIG. I). The cover 15 is mounted by means of a pivot shaft 16 secured to the housing bottom plate 12 for pivotal movement in the direction indicated by the arrows X and extends with a portion 15a (FIG. 4) beyond the pivot axis 16. Formed laterally on the cover 15 are arcuate guide rails 17, 18 which consist of angle profiles guided with one of their two flanges in the recesses I40, 141 or the cards 101 to 113. In this manner the cards 101 to 113 are held on the cover 15 during their pivotal movement as well (FIGS. 1 and 5).

Disposed at the front of the dish-shaped hollow 13 on the desk-like inclined portion of the housing cover plate 14 are selection keys 20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31 and a closure key 32.

The selection keys 20 to 31 serve to move the selected card to the reading position and the key 32 effects return of the open cover 15 to the closure position. The selection keys 20 to 31 and the closure key 32 each consist of an enlongated two-arm lever 40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,5l and 52. The twoarmed levers 40 to 51 and 52 are pivotally mounted by means of bearing studs 35,36 formed in the center and on both sides of each lever, the studs being held in mounting 37,38 formed on the bottom plate 12. The two arms of each pivot lever are denoted by 40a, 40b, 41a, 41b, 42a, 42b, 43a, 43b, 44a, 44b, 45a, 45b, 46a, 46b, 47a, 47b, 48a, 48b, 49a, 49b, 50a, 50b, 51a, 5 lb, 52a, 52b, (FIGS. 1,2 and 3).

The arm ends 400 to 51a and 52a of the levers 40 to 51 and 52 carry substantially rectangular key bodies 20a, 2la, 22a, 23a, 24a, 25a, 26a, 27a, 28a, 29a, 30a and 31a which are led through holes formed in the inclined portion 140 of the cover plate 14 so that a portion of the key bodies 200 to 310 and 32a project from the inclined portion 14a of the housing cover plate 14. The keys may be depressed by a finger. Arranged on the bottom plate 12 in the region of these key-shaped bodies 20a to 31a and 32a is a foam body 39 which in the relaxed state holds the key bodies 20a to 31a and 32a in a raised condition, the free ends of the lever arms 40b to 5112 and 5212 coming to rest on the bottom plate 12 (FIG. 3).

If one of the key bodies is depressed in the direction of the arrow X1 (FIG. 3) the foam body 39 is compressed in the region of this key body and the other free end of the lever raised. When pressure is no longer applied to the key body the foam body 39 tends to return to its original state and as a result the key body moves upwardly opposite to the direction of the arrow X1 and returns to its starting position.

The ends of the lever arms 40b to 51b of the selection keys 20 to 31 are formed as tongue-shaped portions 406, 41c, 42c, 43c, 44c, 45c, 46c, 47c, 48c, 49c, 50c, 51c and are bent upwardly to form a substantially circularly arcuate guide face or tongue-shaped angled end portion 60 (FIGS. 2 and 3). This arcuate guide face 60 of each selection key 20 to 31 emerges into a portion 61 which rises in the direction towards the key bodies 200 to 31a. Associated with each key 20 to 31 is a pivot member 70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77, 78,79,80,81, the pivot members cooperate with the free ends of the lever arms 40 to 51 provided with the guide faces 60 and 61. Each pivot member 70 to 81 consists of a substantially rectangular or square disc-shaped body comprising a hole 85 formed in one of its four corner regions for the passage of the pivot shaft 16. A pinshaped bearing 86,87 is advantageously formed on the pivot member on both sides thereof, through which the shaft 16 is passed and which serve simultaneously as spacers when the pivot members 70 to 81 are fitted onto the shaft 16 (FIGS. 6 and 7).

Positioning the bearing 85 for receiving the pivot shaft 16 of each pivot member 70 to 81 in one of the four corner regions of the member provides eccentric mounting of the pivot members 70 to 81 on the shaft 16. The four side edges of each pivot member 70 to 81 are denoted by 88,89,90,91. The side edges 88,89 are at a right-angle to each other and in the region thereof the hole 85 for the shaft 16 is provided. The side edge 89 merges into an arcuate portion 89a which is followed by the side edge 90 which is led in inclined and circularly arcuate manner to the free end of the side edge 88, the arcuate portion merging into a portion 91 which extends substantially parallel to the side edge 89 but which is shorter than the latter.

The area 92 indicated in dash-line in FIG. 6 enclosed by the side edges 88,89,90,91 may be solid or cut out. In the latter case the bearing eye comprising the hole 85 is formed in the region of the junction between the two side edges 88,89. The construction of the pivot members 70 to 81 and the shape of the guide faces 89,90 is such that when the cover (FIG. 8) is closed the face 90 comes to bear on the rising portion 61 at the ends of the lever arms 40b to 51b. If for example the key body a is depressed the lever 20 pivots about its central axis of rotation 35,36 in such a manner that the free end of the lever arm 40b is raised. As this happens the pivot body 70 rolls down with its guide face 90 in a direction towards its guide face 89 on the guide portion 61 at the free end of thelever arm 40b so that the pivot body 70 is turned on the shaft 16 in the direction of the arrow Y. During this rotational movement of the pivot body 70 the latter lies with its corner portion 880 on the inside of the cover 15 and engages simultaneously through the selection cut-outs of the register cards which are disposed below the card to be selected; the pivot body thus comes to bear on the card to be selected and lifts the card with the card stack thereabove and the cover 15, moving them into a substantially vertical position. To avoid automatic falling back of the open cover 15 the latter has an open position corresponding to an angle with respect to the plane of the housing cover plate 14 which is greater than (FIG. 9).

The mode of operation of this register will now be explained: If the key body 24a is depressed the pivot body 74 associated with the lever 44 is pivoted by the latter and is moved through the cut-outs 126 of the cards lying in the hollow of the bottom portion cover plate 14 the cards being from the top to the bottom 113,112,111,110,109,108,107 and 106, and comes to bear on the bottom of the card as shown in FIG. 1. The upward pivoting of the member 74 opens the cover 15, the cards 104,103,102,101 above the card 105 being raised at the same time. If the key body 32a is depressed the cam 82 slides on an inclined face (FIG. 8 or 9) formed at the free end of the lever 52 and indicated at 83 and turns about the axis 16 in such a manner that it is brought to bear on the cover 15 on the portion thereof below the axis 16 and as a result the cover 15 is pressed in the direction of the arrow Y1 and after passing through the vertical position drops under the action of gravity into the closure position (FIG. 4), being subjected at the same time to a retarding wedging action by the portion 40c of the actuating lever 40. C10- sure of the cover is effected by actuating the key 32 by means of a cam 82 which is also disposed on the shaft 16 (FIG. 7).

The register is made with a low number of individual recurring components which are easy to make; they are easy to assemble and furthermore guarantee satisfactory operation even after frequent use of the register for many years. The lever combination in the register provides a varying leverage. Due to the mounting of the cover the latter has in the horizontal position a maximum opening weight, in the vertical position a effective opening weight of zero and in an opening position of more than 90 an over-weight. At the start of the opening a small force is necessary due to the reduction ratio resulting from the leverage which changes to a step-up ratio, a larger force thus being compensated for by the decreasing opening weight. On the other hand, at the end of the opening movement a braking action is achieved by means of the lever portion 40c (FIG. 2).

I claim:

1. An improvement in a memorandum index comprising a housing having a box-shaped bottom part and a rectangular dish-shaped depression in said bottom part for matingly receiving a rectangular stack of loose sheets or cards, said cards provided with identification marks, each said card being cut along one of the edges in the form of an index, said bottom part having a front portion and a rear portion, lateral guide means mounted at the corners of the rear portion of said bottom part for pivotally mounting the stack of cards, a cover for covering said dish-shaped depression, means for pivotally mounting said cover along the rear transverse portion of said bottom part. a plurality of elongated two-armed levers longitudinally mounted in said bottom part for engaging the cards and having a key body engaging portion at one end extending through cut-outs formed in the forward portion of said bottom part and engaging means formed at the other end, means for pivoting each of said two-armed levers at a mid-portion thereof, and card pivot members contacting said engaging means of said two-armed levers mounted in said means for pivotally mounting said cover so that, by actuation, said key body engaging portion of each said two-armed levers pivots the pivot member corresponding to that two-armed lever and a selected card can be transferred with those cards above it and with the cover into a vertical position with a cover aperture angle of more than 90, to improvement wherein said engaging means of each of said two-armed levers comprises a bent tongue-shaped end portion extending obliquely and upwardly toward each of said pivot members so as to serve as a braking and locking part and an inclined guide portion extending upwardly in a direction opposite to that of said tongue-shaped end portion, and each said card pivot member com prises a disc-shaped pivot body mounted eccentrically on said means for pivoting said cover, said disc-shaped pivot body comprising a molded body having four lateral side edges, a bearing formed at the intersection of a first one and a second one of said lateral side edge arranged at right angles to each other for receiving said means for pivoting said cover, a third lateral side edge comprising a circular segment connected to said second side edge via an arcuate portion, and a fourth lateral side edge shorter than said second lateral side edge connected at one end to said third lateral side edge and at the opposite end to said first lateral side edge, said circular portion of said third lateral side edge obliquely rising toward said first lateral side edge, wherein by rotating said two-armed lever by pressing said key body engaging portion, the tongue-shaped end portion of the engaging means pivots the respective pivot body by contact with the circular portion of the third lateral side edge, and thereby raising the respective card and cards thereabove along with the cover and a closure key for closing said cover having a two-armed lever with a key body at one end extending through a further cut-out in said bottom part. 

1. An improvement in a memorandum index comprising a housing having a box-shaped bottom part and a rectangular dish-shaped depression in said bottom part for matingly receiving a rectangular stack of loose sheets or cards, said cards provided with identification marks, each said card being cut along one of the edges in the form of an index, said bottom part having a front portion and a rear portion, lateral guide means mounted at the corners of the rear portion of said bottom part for pivotally mounting the stack of cards, a cover for covering said dishshaped depression, means for pivotally mounting said cover along the rear transverse portion of said bottom part, a plurality of elongated two-armed levers longitudinally mounted in said bottom part for engaging the cards and having a key body engaging portion at one end extending through cut-outs formed in the forward portion of said bottom part and engaging means formed at the other end, means for pivoting each of said two-armed levers at a mid-portion thereof, and card pivot members contacting said engaging means of said two-armed levers mounted in said means for pivotally mounting said cover so that, by actuation, said key body engaging portion of each said two-armed levers pivots the pivot member corresponding to that two-armed lever and a selected card can be transferred with those cards above it and with the cover into a vertical position with a cover aperture angle of more than 90*, to improvement wherein said engaging means of each of said two-armed levers comprises a bent tongue-shaped end portion extending obliquely and upwardly toward each of said pivot members so as to serve as a braking and locking part and an inclined guide portion extending upwardly in a direction opposite to that of said tongue-shaped end portion, and each said card pivot member comprises a disc-shaped pivot body mounted eccentrically on said means for pivoting said cover, said discshaped pivot body comprising a molded body having four lateral side edges, a bearing formed at the intersection of a first one and a second one of said lateral side edge arranged at right angles to each other for receiving said means for pivoting said cover, a third lateral side edge comprising a circular segment connected to said second side edge via an arcuate portion, and a fourth lateral side edge shorter than said second lateral side edge connected at one end to said third lateral side edge and at the opposite end to said first lateral side edge, said circular portion of said third lateral side edge obliquely rising toward said first lateral side edge, wherein by rotating said two-armed lever by pressing said key body engaging portion, the tongueshaped end portion of the engaging means pivots the respective pivot body by contact with the circular portion of the third lateral side edge, and thereby raising the respective card and cards thereabove along with the cover and a closure key for closing said cover having a two-armed lever with a key body at one end extending through a further cut-out in said bottom part. 